S14.E28: Top 3 Perform

[limecoke]

Arrrggggghhhh...this show!  I hated everything about last night.  I hate that the show has become "American Idol With Jennifer Lopez."  I loathe Scott Borchetta and for the last two weeks, Clark has been my favorite simply because Borchetta hates him.   I don't know half the songs they sang and after hearing them, I don't want to hear them again.  

 

Of course, the pretentious blond with the "x" on her face will win and good for her.  Frankly, I don't think SB really wants the guys and if either of them did manage to win, I don't think their experience with Borchetta and his Big Machine would be a good one (see: Boyd, Craig Wayne).  

 

So, I think I will probably bow out as I did last year when final time came.  I had no interest in Caleb Whats-is-name and, apparently, no one else did either based on his lack of success.  Jackie might do better along the lines of Kelly Pickler but I doubt she will be the third coming of Clarkson and Underwood because she's just not good enough.

 

Run, Clark, run and do what you love to do the way you want to do it.  Be Taylor Hicks, find your niche and be happy.

 

ELLIOTT!!!  

Edited May 8, 2015 by limecoke

[MrsMoltisanti]

If Jena Irene didnt cause more than a pimple burst in the world in terms of interest what makes anyone think that Jax is going to be any better even with Borchettas help? The world is so fickle and there are so many girls out there that are more talented. This show needs to die now. Its done.

[DonnaJo]

I see that Clark's "Earned It" is #78 on ITunes. Don't see any one else from American Idol this week's song in the Top 100.

[Shannon L.]

 

People try to put us d-d-down.  I know the Who stutters it but Jax doing it just felt so karaoke.  I fast-forwarded after the 4th stutter.

I went to a Frankie Valli concert with my dad a number of years ago and at one point saw him smiling and shaking his head.  I asked why and he said "Everyone feels like they have to sing the falsetto".  I said the same thing last night to my husband about Jax--"Did anyone tell her she doesn't have to do the stuttering?".

 

Every year, for years now, I've heard people saying "This is the worst, most boring group of kids ever" and every year, I'd think "There not that bad.".  This year though?  I totally agree.  The only one I don't fast forward through now is Nick, who seems to be growing and getting better each week.  But, even he's not that exciting.  Simply better than the others, imo.

[Padma]

Bad singing, bad song choices. I totally agree about SB throwing Clark under the bus intentionally with "Beautiful Day".

Giving Jax the Who song wasn't a bad idea--letting her distract from her singing by working the crowd (though...clothing choice?) However, I was struck by how completely uninspired and monotonous her dynamics and phrasing were. Any time a lyric/melody repeated, she sang it Exactly. the. Same. Way. that she had before. No difference at all.

 

How did that F4, F3 get to be the "best of the season"? Honestly, I have no idea.

[BettyPoz]

Guilford does look like a nice place. My understanding is that it's kind of outside the orbit of "wealthy CT suburbs of NYC", so I'm a little disappointed his dog is named Jeter instead of Nomar, but Nick's hometown visit was nice to watch anyway.

It IS a lovely town. It is a somewhat wealthy suburb of New Haven but is also centrally located enough to allow you to work in Middletown or heck Hartford and live there. (not everything has to relate to NYC just because we're the next state over).

Since the dividing line between Yankees/RedSox love-hate is some where around Meriden, it's understandable his dog's name is Jeter!

[27bored]

JAX is this year's Nikki McKibbin. Minus the looks, the trashy appeal, the child, or the semi-decent performances some of the time.

 

So basically she's nothing like her. Shut up, me.

[howmanywords]

I see that Clark's "Earned It" is #78 on ITunes. Don't see any one else from American Idol this week's song in the Top 100.

He actually got all the way up to 63 earlier. For all that Clark is bashed how he's boring, how he's been doing nothing but off-key performances, and getting sabotaged by Scott - he ended the night with the one song that actually seemed to resonate with people and managing to outsell the chosen producer pets by quite a bit.  The ironic thing is even that song I cant help but think was also another sabotage attempt but this one backfired. I mean, a nice God loving Christian who doesnt really sing anything current being handed a song from 50 Shades of Grey? Hilarious.

[BogoGog24]

Well the main demographic that watches Idol is known to be middle aged women. Clearly Jax is not targeting that demographic, hence why most posters here don't like her and instead are gravitating towards either Clark (who has a throwback style) or Nick (who is the oldest left). I'm only a couple years older than Jax, so personally she is my favorite left (never thought I would say that way back during auditions) and I really like her a lot. If all 3 of them were giving a concert and I had to choose which one I would rather go see, I would pick Jax for sure over either of the other 2 snoozers. I think Jax is incredibly inconsistent and I don't always like what she does, but at least she is always interesting to me. Clark and Nick are just so boring, unexciting, and vanilla. There are plenty of other guy singers out there that do the same style of music as they do that are 10x better singers. Neither of them are anything special and neither are particularly outstanding vocalists. Both of them do outdated sounding music, especially Clark. And alt rock stopped being popular in the mid 2000s. I can't honestly see where either of them would fall into the music industry today, unless Clark modernized his sound a la Sam Smith and Nick took the indie folk route like P2/Mumford and Sons. Like her or not, Jax is the only one of the 3 that maybe would have any chance of success in pop music. The typical Idol demographic doesn't like her, but it was obvious from the footage of her hometown visit that there were many kids there to see her, many of them with the Xs on their face. I could definitely see a bunch of kids showing up to Jax's concert with the Xs on their faces and the crazy clothes. Every successful pop singer has something their fans can copy and Jax has that. Literally I saw an X in a commercial somewhere and immediately thought of Jax. I think that is supposed to be the idea, that you come to associate an X with Jax, it's like subliminal messaging and marketing. IMO she's a damn smart girl and knows how to brand herself. She just needs to be more consistent in her performances.

 

So my thoughts on each performer:

 

Clark -

Beautiful Day = I didn't think Beautiful Day was as bad as people are saying it was. His lower register definitely sucked though, he was really struggling there. But I don't know necessarily if Scott intentionally threw Clark under the bus, because why would Scott want to make himself look bad? I do think he thought the song could pull some energy out of Clark and I think, even if it vocally wasn't perfect, I did see an energy from Clark I hadn't seen before. IMO it wasn't that bad.

 

Sittin On the Dock of the Bay - ZZZZZZZ and pitch problems

 

Earned It - Why did the judges choose this song for Clark? It's from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack and Clark is a very religious person. The 2 clearly do not mix. He seemed awkward and uncomfortable singing this. He wasn't sexy at all. And as usual his high register was thin and whiny. Why does he feel the need to do that screaming thing in almost every song? His performances are predictable and formulaic, I always know he's going to get into his high register at some point and start screaming. And he doesn't even do it very well, at that. I am always baffled when people say Clark is a great singer and the best vocalist left in the competition. Against Nick and Jax, I guess that isn't saying very much, but man Clark's high register is awful, I don't know how anyone can think he is a great singer. In any other season he wouldn't have even made Top 10.

 

Nick - 

Because the Night - Not a Springsteen fan so I didn't know the song. It was an average sounding song sung averagely. Nothing spectacular about it. Bland. Boring. 

 

Back Home - Still not impressed. 

 

I'll Be - Best of the 3. Not a fan of the song choice but I thought he at least showed decent vocals and emotion here. 

 

Jax -

My Generation - I don't know what Scott was thinking picking this for her. It's not a singer's song, it's meant to be performed. I guess Jax did what she could with what she was given. 

 

My Immortal - My personal favorite performance of the night. She is at her best when she is at the piano. 

 

Misery Business - Oh. Oh no. I wish her last 2 performances could have been reversed. I really do think the judges were expecting her to rock out like the original. Points for changing the arrangement to make it acoustic but it did not work for this song. At least, like Keith said, she should have dialed back the vocals. It was just too weird, with a stripped down arrangement but full blown punk vocals. Not a good performance for her to end on. But hey, at least no one can claim the judges are being biased or whatever towards her, since they did give her negative feedback on this one. 

 

Rayvon -

Want To Want Me - Falsetto was terrible. And the song sucks on top of that.

 

As - Better. I do agree with Keith or whoever said it that Rayvon seems better when he moves.

 

You Are So Beautiful - This song has always been so boring to me. And Rayvon's version was no different.

 

Round 1: IMO none of them were great but I'll give it to Jax because at least it was fun and interesting to see her running around all over the stage (for me, anyway). Second would be Clark, even if not vocally great, was great to see him show some energy for a change.

 

Round 2: Jax, no question.

 

Round 3: Nick

 

I am hoping for a Nick/Jax finale because Jax is my favorite and Nick is from my home state. No one from the northeast or CT has ever made it to the finale before. The closest was Angie Miller from Season 12 who made it to 3rd and she was from MA. I would love for Jax to win but be ok with Nick winning too, since he's from my home state. I do not want Clark in the finale because a) I think he's terribly overrated, b) Is boring, c) Does outdated music, and d) Behind the scenes he's been noted many many times by Scott of not taking direction. It wasn't just last week's package, but apparently this is something that's been happening for weeks. He can't do that if he wins. I guess I'd be interested to see what would go down if Clark did win, but guess what, if his fans care at all about Clark having a career, he's better off not winning. The Voice season 7 winner Craig Wayne Boyd released 1 single from Dot Records (imprint of Big Machine) and was just recently dropped. He didn't even get to push out an album first. And Caleb from last season recently parted ways from Interscope and just recently funded his own music video and small Southern tour. I can envision Clark going down that same road, unfortunately, if he won. I bet Scott would just let him put out a half assed crappy single and then call it a day. Clark would not last more than a hot second on Scott's label. He's better off going the indie route and getting his music crowd funded so that he can do what he wants how he wants. It would be such a shame for the contract to be wasted on someone who was gonna get dropped. IMO Jax or Nick would work much better with Scott and maybe have a better chance to sell records than Clark. Jax seems like she will be signed either way.

 

Last week people were complaining because Tyanna was eliminated in the middle of the show. So they do the elimination at the end of the show and people still complain? There really isn't any better way to do it, IMO. Doing it at the beginning would be stupid. It would not only put a damper on the rest of the show and make the rest of the contestants sad and screw with their performances, but it would eliminate any suspense and the contestant would have wasted a whole week rehearsing songs they didn't even get to sing. At least by doing the elimination at the end allowed everyone to perform all their songs and I think overall they seemed to give better performances because they weren't worrying about whether or not they were safe. At least they all knew they'd get to perform. And maybe some of them even put more into it in case it was the last time they got to sing on that stage. The eliminations should have been done this way from the very beginning. 

 

I bet JLo flipped Harry off and that was why they had to cut away to an audience shot. Classy JLo.

[drafan]

 

 

 Be Taylor Hicks, find your niche and be happy.

 

 

Anyone can say what they want about Taylor, but he always seems beyond happy for his Idol experience, which is actually kind of refreshing.

 

 I mean, a nice God loving Christian who doesnt really sing anything current being handed a song from 50 Shades of Grey? Hilarious.

This describes Carrie in a nutshell.....she can sing the crap out of "Before He Cheats", but you know she was never cheated on nor trashed some dude's truck. (She's the other one eternally grateful for the Idol experience.)

 

Was Jax really wrapped up in a tattered American flag at the beginning of the Who song? Did she fling it off onto the stage? Really? After all the Daddy 9/11 stuff every week?  And memo: Daddy 9/11 is so not hot.

 

I like Clark OK...but "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" reminds him of home??? In Tennessee? I was thinking, well, maybe there's a bay of a lake with a dock....but "the tide"....umm....no.

 

When SB was surrounded by the other contestants from this season, I was searching my brain trying to remember where I'd seen them before.

 

Maybe the finale will have some of the past, more interesting, AI participants. Like...where is David Cook these days?? Heck, I'd settle for William Hung or Sanjaya or even that stuttering guy.

Edited May 8, 2015 by drafan

[Guest]

He actually got all the way up to 63 earlier. For all that Clark is bashed how he's boring, how he's been doing nothing but off-key performances, and getting sabotaged by Scott - he ended the night with the one song that actually seemed to resonate with people and managing to outsell the chosen producer pets by quite a bit.  The ironic thing is even that song I cant help but think was also another sabotage attempt but this one backfired. I mean, a nice God loving Christian who doesnt really sing anything current being handed a song from 50 Shades of Grey? Hilarious.

I think Earned It was kind of a genius choice for Clark.  It's this new PBR&B like Harry said, sort of hipster R&B, which could be a lane for Clark.  I liked Beautiful Day, too.  It was no U2 but I enjoyed it. 

 

Maybe partly because he lives in Nashville, but I always figured Clark would be the best fit for Scott.  Scott seemed hottest for him at the beginning of this, too.  

[MrsMoltisanti]

Somebody up there said that Clark and Nick were boring and unexciting and that there were many singers out there that were 10 times better but that is a subjective opinion based on tastes. I think the same thing but about Jax. Boring and unexciting. Many out there doing what she is doimg but 10 times better.

I have a daughter who is 23 (Sorry I guess I am part of that dreaded middle aged demographic that is keeping the boys that the young kids dont like in the game.) My daughter loves Paramore and many other types of music in the same vein. I asked her the other night if Jax was good and she said not really. She said during the song the judges picked that Jax was not powerful enough to carry that off. She said she sounded like she was swallowing her words. Then my daughter played me both the electric and acoustic version of that song by Paramore. She said see what I mean? My daughter is in that age group so I am not so sure that everyone in their twenties is thinking Jax is all that and a bag of chips.

[karenc3]

 

 

Did anyone else wonder what happened to Nick's girlfriend, the one who auditioned with him and didn't get chosen?  (I actually thought she had a lovely voice and should have been given a chance to sing another song, since the cups thing was distracting.)  I expected to see her in the hometown visit but she was neither shown nor mentioned.  It's tempting to speculate that she didn't take the situation as well as it seemed back in the audition shows and broke up with him out of jealousy, but who knows.  It just seems to me that if they were still together, she would have been in the hometown visit video.

 

 

I saw the interview, he said they broke up a while ago, that they were friends for a while and dated for a bit, but now are broken up, and still friends.  I did read she's working on her  own music. 

 

Maybe the finale will have some of the past, more interesting, AI participants. Like...where is David Cook these days?? 

 

I'd love it if he were on but I'm not sure if he will be. Great if he was because his album is coming out soon.   Adam Lambert does too.  From what I've read they aren't going to be on, but I wish they would have more alums on the finale. 

[TheGreenKnight]

You know, even though I don't like Clark, I've thought since the beginning that both him and Rayvon might be able to work if pushed into the avenue of, say, Josh Groban/Michael Buble/John Legend. I'm surprised Scott Borchetta couldn't see that potential, even if he'd rather Jax (who doesn't have the potential as a pop star that he obviously thinks she does). Of course, the question is if Clark would even budge that much; he may be determined to do covers of soul songs from 50 years ago as his album.

[niklj]

He actually got all the way up to 63 earlier. For all that Clark is bashed how he's boring, how he's been doing nothing but off-key performances, and getting sabotaged by Scott - he ended the night with the one song that actually seemed to resonate with people and managing to outsell the chosen producer pets by quite a bit.  The ironic thing is even that song I cant help but think was also another sabotage attempt but this one backfired. I mean, a nice God loving Christian who doesnt really sing anything current being handed a song from 50 Shades of Grey? Hilarious.

 

My favorite part of the night was how the audience went so wild after this song, they almost didn't let Harry talk at all lol Great song choice--even though I hate this song so much, Clark got me to like it.

[BogoGog24]

I just listened to one of Jax's original songs on YouTube called "Always You." It is truly stunning. If only they had an original songs theme next week so she could sing it. They were supposed to do an original songs night last year and it got scrapped. This year it would have been totally doable, since Jax has at least a couple originals, Nick has Beach Avenue songs, and Clark probably writes as well. It's too bad TPTB never want to take a chance and try this theme.

[Sentient Meat]

Jax personality wise never stood a chance having that weird stage father (no disrespect to the 9/11 workers and survivors, but he is offputting).

 

Think she might have done better without all the affectations and simply went with her natural hair color, her real name and no ridiculous "X" on her face.  Not that she's lost already but I don't see her beating Clark.

 

It's too bad because she has talent and a good voice, but I don't connect with her emotionally at all.  Didn't help that Scott was their mentor... if Keith Urban traded places with him, he might have been able to transfuse some of his soul into her music.

[27bored]

Not to shit on anybody's point about Clark on the iTunes chart, but I think his placement is mostly due to Earned It being the only current hit that was performed. Earned It is a current radio hit; I don't think it has much to do with Clark. I think Misery Business was the best choice in terms of matching singer and song, but listening to Jax mangle that just made me want to listen to Paramore to cleanse my pallet.

ETA: iPhone auto-corrects "Jax" into "Ajax". Hug me, iPhone!

Edited May 8, 2015 by 27bored

[DonnaJo]

Not to shit on anybody's point about Clark on the iTunes chart, but I think his placement is mostly due to Earned It being the only current hit that was performed

 

Rayvon sang Jason DeRulo's "Want To Want Me" which is also a current hit played constantly on all the pop &hip/hop/r & b stations. 

[BogoGog24]

This week isn't the first time Clark charted higher than the others on iTunes. One of his songs even landed somewhere on the Billboard Hot 100. But sales indicate nothing, as we've seen some contestants sell on iTunes but then tank when they release their albums. I'll bet most people voting for Clark won't give a damn about him when/if he wins.

Mobile version doesn't allow for spoiler tags so...

*******************SPOILER ALERT**************

Bing has predicted Clark in danger and Nick and Jax safe. Bing has been accurate every week this season.

Edited May 8, 2015 by BogoGog24

[27bored]

Rayvon sang Jason DeRulo's "Want To Want Me" which is also a current hit played constantly on all the pop &hip/hop/r & b stations.

Fair point. I didn't know that was a current song or that it was popular. It's currently #3 on iTunes.

[DonnaJo]

27bored, I think Rayvon's time was finally finished, no matter what current hit he was given to perform. Sad, I thought he did a good job with "Want To Want Me."

 

Bogo, thanks for the spoiler, although I hope it's wrong......"sigh"

 

Wonder where Rayvon's votes will go?

Edited May 8, 2015 by DonnaJo

[MarkHB]

Was Jax really wrapped up in a tattered American flag at the beginning of the Who song? Did she fling it off onto the stage? Really? After all the Daddy 9/11 stuff every week?  And memo: Daddy 9/11 is so not hot.

 

I like Clark OK...but "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" reminds him of home??? In Tennessee? I was thinking, well, maybe there's a bay of a lake with a dock....but "the tide"....umm....no.

 

It was a Union Jack that Jax was wrapped in, not the Stars and Stripes.  The UK doesn't have the same rules of decorum around their flag that the US has, and I thought that exact same thing about "Dock of the Bay" and Clark's hometown.

 

I like Jax; when she does the piano stuff I think she has a really pretty voice, and she actually seems to be a very nice kid.  My hunch is that "My Generation" was more a test of her ability to whip the crowd up than of her actual singing, as I think she wants to be in the same sugar-pop princess, Tove Lo, Meg Myers, Banks wheelhouse that @Winston9-DT3 mentioned a page back, and I am sure Scott is gearing up to get her there.  I could see her opening for Fifth Harmony, tbh.  If she can write her own stuff, so much the better.

 

Incidentally, I discovered last night that Steel Magnolia, the duet act that Meghan Linsey from The Voice was in, was on Big Machine Records before they broke up.

 

Every mention of Haley Reinhart makes me cry inside.  I got to meet her when she opened for Allen Stone, and she was a complete sweetheart (and every bit as gorgeous and sexy in person).  Interestingly, she didn't sing "Free"; apparently Allen wanted her to concentrate on songs she had written herself (pretty much the rest of the album).

[howmanywords]

The highest charting song all season was The Trouble With Love. Not only the oldest Kelly song that night but not even her biggest hit. Last week the highest charting song was Nicks version of What Hurts The Most..it wasn't the newest song. I seriously doubt people are just buying songs when it's the most recent out there.

If Clark goes out in 3rd Jax will get all my votes. I don't care for her but at least she's interesting and Nick seems to be the one who has been blessed with the overly defensive rabid fan base.

Edited May 8, 2015 by howmanywords

[proserpina65]

Wonder where Rayvon's votes will go?

 

Probably the bulk of them will go nowhere.  Most of a contestant's fan base usually just stops voting when that contestant is eliminated.

[rab01]

Stratego, I thought about it and you're right; Borchetta's job there was to pick songs that he thought each idol would be awesome at, not ones that they could change up interestingly or do well if they stretched. In picking songs, he was 2 of 4 with Clark and Jax being hurt by the choices. If each of them had 2-3 weeks to think about the song, I think they would have killed it but with 3 songs to do and only a day or two to prep ... not easy.

 

That said, I think AI assumed that Clark was winning this competition from like week 3. They aren't always right (e.g., Daughtry) but I'm still surprised at Bogo's spoiler.

[Sparkling Beth]

I think Idol doesn't want Clark to win because they fear he's another Taylor Hicks--not relevant to today's radio scene.  And he very well could be.  But with the right song, he could also be another Phillip Phillips and have a huge hit.

 

The problem for Clark is that if Idol thinks of him as another Taylor, they will treat him the way they did Taylor, turning their backs on him before he's even brushed the confetti off his shoulders.  Taylor's album debuted at #2 on Billboard, selling almost 300,000 copies, but there wasn't a single released until several months after the album came out, at which point the album had already dropped considerably down the chart, interrupting any momentum it might have had.  Remember when Idol used to have the pictures of Idol winners on the wall of the audition room?  Taylor's was always stuck way off in a corner, practically in another time zone.

 

The thing is, though, that Taylor has done pretty well for himself without radio, and I believe that his goal was not to become a star but to simply make a good living playing music, which is what he's doing.  Idol doesn't see anyone as a success unless they're having top ten hits.  Actually, the truth be told, Idol doesn't care much about what happens to the contestants once they leave the show beyond the bragging rights of saying, "We discovered Kelly Clarkson!" or "We launched Carrie Underwood's career!"  Contestants have to be realistic about that and remember that it's up to them to work hard and establish a career after the show ends.  Winning Idol isn't the finish line; it's the starting gate.

[MrsMoltisanti]

Bing has predicted Clark in danger and Nick and Jax safe.

 

LMAO at this because quite honestly if Clark wins I feel he is in danger.  Clark has gotten an awesome amount out of this already and will use it to have a great career on his own standards, much like Taylor Hicks who is not a failure at all, but rather is enjoying the heck out of what Idol exposure did for him.   The best thing to happen to Clark is not to win the Borchetta deal.  Let Jax take that phony baloney Hollywood lifestyle.  She craves it, the fast track, no talent needed - just tell me what I need to do, I will be anything you want and autotune what I don't have talent wise.  Nick is older and I can see him being more true to himself.  Jax doesn't know who she is, that's why they want her. 

[ari333]

Scott creeps me out and I'm not even sure why exactly.

[stcroix]

I just don't get why the powers that be want Jax so much.  Surely there were thousands of young women out there who were edgier, more attractive, and with better voices than HER?!  It's mind boggling.  What a wasted opportunity to actually create a 'star'.  I've noticed from the beginning of the final 12 that the camera shows Jax much more than the others.  It's picture, picture, Jax, picture, Jax, somebody doing something funny with Jax laughing at it quickly thrown in, somebody singing and quick shot of Jax standing to the side moving to the music,Jax and somebody, etc.  If they are trying to subliminally influence us to like and vote for her they failed as far as I'm concerned.   And the obvious judging--- why even have them if they're instructed to push one contestant on us regardless of their performances....  Well, I guess that's why TPTB have them :(   I feel like this is nothing more than a Jax advertisement.   (and now I feel awful for knocking a young woman, but seriously Show, come on!)

 

What a HORRIBLE season!  I love this show normally, but someone dropped the ball this year.  Booooooo. 

[designing1]

Am I misremembering, or was she also the one who was allegedly crushing on Qassim when they were still in the audition phase?

[UrbanShocker]

I've been watching Idol since season 1 and every year people have said that that season's contestants are the worst ever.  This season's crew is not that bad - they're not great mind you, but they're better than some seasons.  Season 12 was a nightmare (the male contestants especially).  Season 9 basically had Crystal and the 12 dwarfs.  Even season 1 was pretty awful - basically it was Kelly, Tamyra Gray and sometimes Guarini, and the other seven finalists were barely listenable.  So I don't think this crew is as bad as some have made them out to be.  Maybe it's just because it doesn't seem like anyone has truly had an "Idol Moment" this season, so the highs weren't as high as in other years. 

 

This week's voting should determine the winner - I don't see any way Jax wins.  Either Nick gets eliminated and his votes go to Clark on Tuesday night or vice-versa.  Even though they say it's a three person finale it's really not - someone is being eliminated at the beginning of Tuesday's show based on the votes from this week and then the final 2 perform on Tuesday night and the voting Tuesday will be used for the winner on Wednesday.  So Jax can't split the vote - she may be the highest vote getter going into Tuesday (and I don't see any way she doesn't make the final two) but Nick and Clark's votes won't be split for the last round of voting since one of them will likely be eliminated.

[rollerblade]

Bing has predicted Clark in danger and Nick and Jax safe. Bing has been accurate every week this season.

 

Well, Rayvon gave Bing a free prediction for 6 or 7 straight weeks, not like their job is hard lol. Maybe creepy Scott is the one doing the "predictions".

[MarkHB]

Am I misremembering, or was she also the one who was allegedly crushing on Qassim when they were still in the audition phase?

 

You are correct!  I have no idea if that flirtation continued, but it made for a cute moment at the time.

 

I've been watching Idol since season 1 and every year people have said that that season's contestants are the worst ever.  This season's crew is not that bad - they're not great mind you, but they're better than some seasons.  Season 12 was a nightmare (the male contestants especially).  Season 9 basically had Crystal and the 12 dwarfs.  Even season 1 was pretty awful - basically it was Kelly, Tamyra Gray and sometimes Guarini, and the other seven finalists were barely listenable.  So I don't think this crew is as bad as some have made them out to be.  Maybe it's just because it doesn't seem like anyone has truly had an "Idol Moment" this season, so the highs weren't as high as in other years.

 

Season 12 was what helped kill the show. No offense intended to Candice, Kree, Angie and the rest, but TPTB were so desperate to not have a WGWG winner that not only was there no one matching that description in the live shows, the men they did have tended towards the awful end of awful.  So, the conspiracy was blatant that they absolutely had to have a female winner, which turned off a lot of people I know (they may want to see a female winner, but not via a set-up).  Then, they also had the Mariah-Nikki train wreck going on which was horrific to watch.  Even if ratings had started to slide at that point, S12 was what put the show in uncertain renewal territory.

[stcroix]

Well, then TPTB should have learned something from season 12 and not foisted another group of people on us who have minimal star power and talent.  I still say this is the worst group yet.  JMO

[MrsMoltisanti]

 

I just don't get why the powers that be want Jax so much.  Surely there were thousands of young women out there who were edgier, more attractive, and with better voices than HER?!  It's mind boggling.  What a wasted opportunity to actually create a 'star'.

 

THIS.   Show, really?  That's all America has to offer? 

[Guest]

I liked season 12.  I think the 5 women were legitimately the best. 

 

Scott creeps me out and I'm not even sure why exactly.

Could it be his girly voice, his loving gazes deep into the camera lens, all while displaying his passive aggressive lecture/slogan on his sleeve?  

[DonnaJo]

This week's voting should determine the winner - I don't see any way Jax wins.  Either Nick gets eliminated and his votes go to Clark on Tuesday night or vice-versa.

 

 

I think you're right, Urban! Even though Clark has been my horse in this race since Auditions, I also like Nick and would be fine with him winning if Clark was voted out. Nothing personal regarding Jax. She seems like a nice girl and all, but I don't see how she is talented enough to win American Idol. My opinion, of course.

 

Wednesday night I really noticed how JLO is given preferential treatment when it comes to giving her opinion, screen time....all of it. I would love Kelly Clarkson between Keith and Harry at the judges table. The perfect trio, IMO.

 

[rollerblade]

Could it be his girly voice, his loving gazes deep into the camera lens, all while displaying his passive aggressive lecture/slogan on his sleeve?  

 

Don't forget that greasy hair and icky thin goatee.

[Jillybean]

Am I crazy or did Jennifer mispronounce "integral" again? She says in -teg-ral and I know she's done it on at least one other show. I would think someone would correct her privately . Or am I wrong ?

She did and it drives me batty.  Then again most of her antics on this show drive me batty.

[Stratego]

You are correct!  I have no idea if that flirtation continued, but it made for a cute moment at the time.

 

 

Season 12 was what helped kill the show. No offense intended to Candice, Kree, Angie and the rest, but TPTB were so desperate to not have a WGWG winner that not only was there no one matching that description in the live shows, the men they did have tended towards the awful end of awful.  So, the conspiracy was blatant that they absolutely had to have a female winner, which turned off a lot of people I know (they may want to see a female winner, but not via a set-up).  Then, they also had the Mariah-Nikki train wreck going on which was horrific to watch.  Even if ratings had started to slide at that point, S12 was what put the show in uncertain renewal territory.

+1.  I remember from 2 years ago all of the talk of the need to break the WGWG streak.  Not only a female winner, but a black female because AI was perceived as racially-biased-audience-wise.  There was only one guy who was remotely close in singing ability to the women and (seemingly) all of the men fell into one (or more) of the following categories:  fat, gay, wimp, or wallflower.  As far as voter-appeal those guys had no chance.  The men were lined-up and gunned-down like carnival targets until all were eliminated.  IIRC, the final five were all women.  The producer interference was gag-worthy.  I had the impression that Jimmy I. wanted Angie as the winner (she was cute and likely marketable) but when she was eliminated Jimmy I. signed-off.  He ignored Candice like rotten fish.

[Guest]

AI doesn't care if all 10 million viewers are white, just that they watch.  It's a tv show, they want their winner to be what their viewers chose, so those viewers come back.  There's no government agency counting up reality show winners' races and enforcing quotas. 

[TheGreenKnight]

Season 12 was what helped kill the show. No offense intended to Candice, Kree, Angie and the rest, but TPTB were so desperate to not have a WGWG winner that not only was there no one matching that description in the live shows, the men they did have tended towards the awful end of awful. So, the conspiracy was blatant that they absolutely had to have a female winner, which turned off a lot of people I know (they may want to see a female winner, but not via a set-up). Then, they also had the Mariah-Nikki train wreck going on which was horrific to watch. Even if ratings had started to slide at that point, S12 was what put the show in uncertain renewal territory.

I agree, season 12 was pretty blatant. Either way, it was the only season since Adam Lambert's year/Paula's last season that I actually enjoyed the show. It was so nice to have a break from JLO always criticizing the girls and white guys who couldn't sing outlasting girls and non-white guys who could. The only bad point--besides Randy Jackson--was Candice winning when Kree, Angela, and even Amber were more marketable, but nobody could deny she could sing very well. That hadn't been the case for a winner of Idol since at least David Cook.

IMO, Devin Velez, Burnell Taylor, and Curtis Finch, Jr. weren't bad singers. They were just unappealing to Idol's generally white viewers. And I wonder--did Nicki Minaj really say anything that Simon wouldn't have said? She was probably my favorite judge after Simon because she didn't sugarcoat and flat-out lie (like JLO) or waste time trying to "teach" the contestants in 20 seconds or less (like HCJ).

[Nedsdag]

I just don't get why the powers that be want Jax so much.  Surely there were thousands of young women out there who were edgier, more attractive, and with better voices than HER?!  It's mind boggling.  What a wasted opportunity to actually create a 'star'.  I've noticed from the beginning of the final 12 that the camera shows Jax much more than the others.  It's picture, picture, Jax, picture, Jax, somebody doing something funny with Jax laughing at it quickly thrown in, somebody singing and quick shot of Jax standing to the side moving to the music,Jax and somebody, etc.  If they are trying to subliminally influence us to like and vote for her they failed as far as I'm concerned.   And the obvious judging--- why even have them if they're instructed to push one contestant on us regardless of their performances....  Well, I guess that's why TPTB have them :(   I feel like this is nothing more than a Jax advertisement.   (and now I feel awful for knocking a young woman, but seriously Show, come on!)

 

What a HORRIBLE season!  I love this show normally, but someone dropped the ball this year.  Booooooo. 

 

There's a local car commercial that features an actress playing a "rocker," complete with leather vest, mini skirt, one leather glove "playing" a guitar and lip synching the song. Every time I see this commercial, I think of Jackie "I'm not mentioning her rocker persona name" Cole. The only thing missing was the peroxided hair. 

 

If Borchetta is so determined to make Jackie Cole a star then he has to reinvent her by returning to her original stage name, dyeing the hair dark again, and nailing her ass to the piano. She's as much a rocker as the actress in that car commercial I previously mentioned.

Edited May 10, 2015 by Nedsdag

[Stratego]

There's a local car commercial that features an actress playing a "rocker," complete with leather vest, mini skirt, one leather glove "playing" a guitar and lip synching the song. Every time I see this commercial, I think of Jackie "I'm not mentioning her rocker persona name" Cole. The only thing missing was the peroxided hair. 

 

If Borchetta is so determined to make Jackie Cole a star then he has to reinvent her by returning to her original stage name, dyeing the hair dark again, and nailing her ass to the piano. She's as much a rocker as the actress in that car commercial I previously mentioned.

I know the commercial--unfortunately for Jax she is nowhere near as hot as that actress--or Borchetta might actually succeed in making her a star.  That commercial is apropos for this discussion--"it's not just what you can put into the [car], it's what the car can do".  This applies to Jax.  I was watching the rerun of The Voice (final six), and everyone of their final six was a better singer than everyone of AI's final four! (Or should I have said "final twelve"?) BMMG should use "the steal" (it's a feature of The Voice), he is far more likely to find someone who might be made into a star.

[Waldo13]

I know the commercial--unfortunately for Jax she is nowhere near as hot as that actress--or Borchetta might actually succeed in making her a star. That commercial is apropos for this discussion--"it's not just what you can put into the [car], it's what the car can do". This applies to Jax. I was watching the rerun of The Voice (final six), and everyone of their final six was a better singer than everyone of AI's final four! (Or should I have said "final twelve"?) BMMG should use "the steal" (it's a feature of The Voice), he is far more likely to find someone who might be made into a star.

I don't understand all this Jax disparagement. As I said, she probably won't be a superstar but she can have success with Borchetta at the helm. After all, he did make a silk purse out of a sow's ear with Taylor. IMO the only thing that Taylor has going for her is that she is a very good song writer. Taylor is not all that pretty but she is cute and auto-tune is her best friend. As for the Voice, no one has anything close to the success of Carrie and Kelly. Danielle Bradbury is the Voice's most successful winner but she is only earning a living and not living the life of champagne and Cavior. Danielle is the complete package of having an excellent voice, attractiveness, and a great personality but I haven't seen her on any country music award shows or any other country music tv shows. This girl should be a superstar.

[ari333]

I dont see disparagement. The thread is for discussing who we like and don't like and why..... if I understand the point correctly. ;)

[bluedevilblue]

 

IMO the only thing that Taylor has going for her is that she is a very good song writer.

 

But that's huge.  It's much rarer to find a good songwriter than it is someone with a decent voice (not rarer than the truly great voices, but those are really rare).  Material is half the battle and Taylor can create her own.  And I do believe it is more or less her own.  She seems to have too many admirers from other musicians to be a fraud, IMO.*   FWIW, I doubt I could name more than three Taylor Swift songs, so I'm hardly a fangirl, but I admit a certain admiration for her.  You don't become as successful as she has based on nothing except label support.  If that were the case, there'd be hundreds of Taylor Swifts  - Big Machine would be pumping them out as fast as they could - and there's not. 

 

I have no idea if Jax can write a song or not.  If not, then she could probably have a decent, but ultimately forgettable, career as a vocalist if they can find a way to show off the girl at the piano and not the wannabe poser.  If she can write her own songs, then that would bode much better for her future career. 

 

* Also, why is it always the young women who must be the frauds? She's not inherently any shallower or stupider than a lot of male rock stars.

Edited May 11, 2015 by bluedevilblue

[BogoGog24]

But that's huge. It's much rarer to find a good songwriter than it is someone with a decent voice (not rarer than the truly great voices, but those are really rare). Material is half the battle and Taylor can create her own. And I do believe it is more or less her own. She seems to have too many admirers from other musicians to be a fraud, IMO.* FWIW, I doubt I could name more than three Taylor Swift songs, so I'm hardly a fangirl, but I admit a certain admiration for her. You don't become as successful as she has based on nothing except label support. If that were the case, there'd be hundreds of Taylor Swifts - Big Machine would be pumping them out as fast as they could - and there's not.

I have no idea if Jax can write a song or not. If not, then she could probably have a decent, but ultimately forgettable, career as a vocalist if they can find a way to show off the girl at the piano and not the wannabe poser. If she can write her own songs, then that would bode much better for her future career.

* Also, why is it always the young women who must be the frauds? She's not inherently any shallower or stupider than a lot of male rock stars.

JAX can indeed write her own music. She used to be in a band called Meadowland which has an EP on iTunes. I don't know if JAX wrote those songs or if she wrote them alone but it's definitely possible. She also has an original song on YouTube called Always You which IMO is stunning. Is she as good of a writer as Taylor? No, but most people aren't. She most likely wrote the song at 16/17 and some of the lyrics definitely have a juvenile feel to them. But I found the overall musicality of the song and emotion impressive. There's another video on YouTube of her also at a modeling shoot with another original song playing in the background, sounding sort of Lana del Rey-ish. I do believe JAX is capable of more than just singing and that, with proper label support and the right songs, she can do well.

[TheGreenKnight]

* Also, why is it always the young women who must be the frauds? She's not inherently any shallower or stupider than a lot of male rock stars.

If it helps, I thought Caleb Johnson was a poser, too.